>>> Item number 16267 from WRITERS LOG9308D --- (115 records) ---- <<<
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 11:42:11 JST
Reply-To: WRITERS
Sender: WRITERS
From: Mike Barker
Subject: NEWS: Kidnap, Ransom, And Murder in Japan
8/18/93
Today's big news on the tube here is an apparent kidnap/ransom attempt
that ended in murder.
According to the reports, on 8/10 (last Tuesday), a 19 year old girl in
a bank was called on the telephone by a man who claimed to be a
journalist working for one of the popular young ladies magazines. He
said he wanted to interview her and take pictures. When she agreed, he
said he would send a taxi for her.
A taxi arrived and took her to a coffee shop. At the coffee shop, she
got another call from the reputed journalist, telling her to go to a
nearby gas station. At the gas station, he called again, telling her to
go to a nearby highway edge. From that point on, no one knows exactly
what happened to her until yesterday.
With the girl vanished, the man then called the bank and demanded
45,000,000 yen (roughly 450,000 dollars). The bank and police, in a
fine display of confusion, managed to deliver the money 10 minutes
before police arrived at the rendezvous spot.
During the week, apparently the man called and talked at length on the
telephone several times. The news reporters had a table of nine calls.
For some (yet unexplained) reason, the police either failed to trace or
failed to locate him following these calls. If I understood correctly,
they did trace at least twice and missed.
The last time (Monday, I think), he called and demanded the same amount
of money again. This time, the bank and police managed to deliver the
money and arrive on the scene together, but 45 minutes late. The man
never appeared (after that delayed delivery), although they let the
money sit overnight.
Yesterday, the body of the young girl was found on a river side near the
original and later meeting spots.
The taxi driver has been located, and apparently has no connection with
the crime(s). The coffee shop and gas station workers also have been
interviewed by police, without providing much information beyond tracing
her movements up to the point when she went to the highway.
That's the news - now for my reactions...
My initial reaction was disbelief - not that the girl would fall for
the scam of someone offering publicity and fame (that happens too
often), but that she would willingly follow this multiple step pickup.
People, I don't care what the nice man offers you, think a little before
getting in the car or shuffling along to his tune...
I'm also suspicious about the strange amount of money (strange because
it isn't an even number), and the oddly poor coordination of police and
bank.
Odd crime case, made even odder by happening in Japan.
8/25/93
The case has been solved. Curiouser and curiouser.
The Japanese police tried a new tactic (here) on this. They provided
copies of the taped telephone conversations to the news, which were
played repeatedly, along with requests that anyone recognizing the voice
or having any information call a "free dial" number. However, this was
not involved in the solution.
The kidnapper had borrowed money from the same bank and tried this
method of paying the loan back. He turned himself in to the police
after they questioned him (and others) as to their whereabouts in a
routine check of people who had borrowed money from the bank or had
other connections with the bank.
Incidentally, as of yesterday the police would only say the loan was
about 50,000,000 yen. Any bets? I have this weird suspicion that it
was almost exactly 45,000,000 yen.
He killed the girl the first day he was holding her.
His employer, friends, etc. repeatedly have told reporters that the man
was a quiet family man, very dedicated and hard-working.
A psychologist has stated that this kind of earnest, hard-working person
is very likely to feel pressured by a loan and go to unusual lengths to
try to pay it back quickly. I don't think this makes much sense (most
people with loans don't try kidnap and ransom, do they?), but the local
news is making quite a point of this "rationale" for the man's actions.
I suspect the problem is that from the reports of acquaintances, this
man appears almost as a stereotypical or "model" Japanese man, but.. he
committed kidnap and murder to repay a loan. Providing some kind of
explanation for how an apparently socially acceptable person could also
be so far outside the socially acceptable circle is almost a necessity.
I'm waiting for them to come up with some excuse (medical,
psychological, whatever) which "proves" he isn't really a typical
Japanese. The pressure of a loan doesn't seem distinctive enough to me
to provide the necessary separation of this man from the social group.
To a large extent, the crime isn't nearly as interesting as the massive
media reaction. First, the level of reaction helps provide evidence for
the relative rarity of such crimes here. Second, though, the reaction
is steeped in questioning of Japanese society - could pressures of a
loan really lead to such actions? How could someone kill someone who
lived less than 500 meters away (this point keeps being raised)? And so
on...
Yet another wrinkle from the Far East
tink (maybe I was Marco Polo in a previous life?)